Warning over levies on computers

Date: 13/03/1997

CONSUMER electronics firms have called on the European Commission to resist pressure for a broadening of existing levies on tape- and video-recorders to include computers.

The appeal from the European Association of Consumer Electronics Manufacturers (EACEM) comes as officials put the finishing touches to a proposed directive on copyright.

A Commission official confirmed the issue of computer levies was being examined, but refused to elaborate.

Pressure to widen the levies on copying equipment which already apply in a minority of EU countries stems from the argument that the development of information highways means computers will soon be able to make perfect video and audio copies.

Germany is already discussing an extension of its existing charges on tape- and video-recorders to cover scanning equipment. “It is a small step further to cover computers,” warned EACEM's European affairs adviser Peter Verhille.

The treatment of levies on copying equipment and blank audio and video tapes is one of the central issues facing the Commission as it prepares wide-ranging measures on copyright and reproduction laws. Such charges are returned to artists, record and film companies to compensate for lost earnings.

Europe's big consumer electronics firms want equipment levies, especially on video-recorders, scrapped.